Elissa Slotkin

Elissa Blair Slotkin (born July 10, 1976) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from MI's 7th congressional district since 2019.

Slotkin was born on July 10, 1976, in New York City, the daughter of Curt Slotkin and Judith (née Spitz) Slotkin.

She is Jewish.

Slotkin spent her early life on a farm in Holly, Michigan.

She attended Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills.

Her family farm was part of Hygrade Meat Company, founded by her grandfather, Hugo Slotkin.

Hygrade was the original company behind Ball Park Franks which is now owned by Tyson Foods.

Slotkin earned a bachelor of arts in sociology from Cornell University in 1998 followed by a master of international affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs in 2003.

Slotkin was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency after graduate school.

Fluent in Arabic and Swahili, she served three tours in Iraq as a CIA analyst.

During the George W. Bush administration, she worked on the Iraq portfolio for the National Security Council.

During Barack Obama's presidency, she worked for the State Department and the Department of Defense.

She is the first Democrat to represent Michigan's 8th district since 2001, when Debbie Stabenow gave up the seat to run for the U. S. Senate.

Her win defied trends in other states that resulted in Democrats narrowly losing control of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress.

On February 27, 2023, Slotkin announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Debbie Stabenow in 2024.

As of January 2024, Slotkin had raised $11.7 million for her Senate campaign leading the field in fundraising.

Slotkin was acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from 2015 to 2017.

After leaving the Defense Department in January 2017, Slotkin moved back to her family's farm in Holly, where she owned and operated Pinpoint Consulting.

In July 2017, Slotkin announced her candidacy for Michigan's 8th congressional district.

She said she was motivated to challenge two-term Republican incumbent Mike Bishop when she saw him smile at a White House celebration after he and House Republicans voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

On August 7, Slotkin defeated Michigan State University criminal justice professor Christopher Smith in the Democratic primary with 70.7% of the vote.

In November 2018, Slotkin defeated Bishop with 50.6% of the vote.

The district, numbered as the MI's 8th congressional district from 2019 to 2023, is based in Lansing and stretches into Detroit's outer western suburbs.

Slotkin is a member of the Democratic Party.

Before entering politics, she was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and Department of Defense official.

She is a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 2024 election to succeed Debbie Stabenow.

In 2019, Slotkin held several town halls about her decision to vote in favor of President Donald Trump's impeachment.

The meetings drew hundreds of protestors and received nationwide media coverage.

Slotkin adapted to campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic by holding campaign events both virtually and socially distanced, with contactless door canvassing, and by running advertisements on gas pumps.

Due to redistricting, Slotkin ran for reelection in Michigan's 7th congressional district.

She defeated Republican nominee Tom Barrett with 51.5% of the vote to Barrett's 46.5%.

The general election was the most expensive U.S. House race of 2022 with Slotkin raising $9.8 million.

Slotkin criticized Barrett's stance on abortion, specifically his statement that he is "100% pro-life, no exceptions".

She also criticized his multiple votes against incentives for a new General Motors electric vehicle battery plant in Delta Township.

She was endorsed by Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

During the campaign, Slotkin signed a seven-month lease on a condominium in Lansing, Michigan.

The owner of the condominium was a donor to Slotkin's campaign, although her campaign stated that the lease was at a fair market rate.

After the election and prior to her February 2023 divorce, Slotkin moved back to her family farm in Holly, which is in Michigan's 9th congressional district.

Slotkin attributed her victory to "losing better" in the district's Republican-leaning areas.

Slotkin won reelection in 2020 with 50.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Paul Junge.